LOVELAND -- A shop catering to skateboarders and roller derby skaters has rolled into downtown Loveland.

Skate Ratz skate shop opened Aug. 18 at 343 E. Fourth St., in a portion of the former Loveland Music building.

Its owners, Loveland residents Bryan and Kristin Vanoverschelde, had operated a skate shop in the Qdoba Events Center north of Loveland, where roller derby and roller hockey teams practice and compete.

"We just ran out of room," Bryan Vanoverschelde said. "This is a good spot for us," he said of the 1,200-square-foot showroom at the corner of Fourth Street and Jefferson Avenue.

He and his wife moved to Colorado in October from Rapid City, S.D., where they owned an indoor skate park and shop.

"I've been skateboarding for 25 years; this is what my passion is," he said.

Vanoverschelde said roller derby is an up-and-coming sport in the area, with leagues in Fort Collins, Greeley and Boulder, and "skateboarding is very large in Colorado."

He said the new Mehaffey Park under construction in northwest Loveland will feature a 15,000-square-foot state-of-the art skate park to complement the other skate parks in town.

While he said roller derby skaters are generally women in their 20s and 30s, the demographic for skateboarders is broader, starting with children 5 or 6 years old.

"I've got lots of friends in their 30s, 40s and even 50s" who skateboard, he said.

"We sell a lot of safety gear," Vanoverschelde said. "Most shops have maybe a helmet or two. We can outfit anyone with safety gear."

On the wall behind the counter, a display of maple decks with typically loud skateboard graphics features collector boards — designs from the '80s that have been reissued to appeal to grown-up skaters with fond memories of their first Tony Hawk or Rod Roskopp board.

Those decks run about $70, Vanoverschelde said, compared with about $50 for a regular deck. To custom-build a skateboard will cost from $75 to $150, he said.

As he talked about his business Wednesday, a woman on wheels came to the door and asked if he minded if she walked around in her stocking feet because she was going to take off her skates.

"You can skate in here," he told her.

Natalie Cutrufello, who works in Loveland, had been at the Loveland Public Library down the street and decided to skate over to check out the new store.

She said she skates in the Boulder County Bombers league under the derby name "Riot Alice" and is in the market for new wheels.

"I'm always in the market for new gear," she conceded.

Cutrufello said she was "absolutely pleasantly surprised" by the selection at Skate Ratz.

The shop is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 970-663-0980 or go to sk8ratz.com.